Allons-Y, Vol. 5 (2021)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10222/85650

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Title Page and About the Volume (Allons-Y, Vol. 5 (2021))
(Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, 2021) Dustin Johnson
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Editors' Note (Allons-Y, Vol. 5 (2021))
(Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, 2021) Dustin Johnson; Catherine Baillie Abidi
“National and international strategies to protect children must empower and build the capacities of women, families and communities to address the root causes of conflict and strengthen local development.” –Graça Machel[1] Over this past year we saw events, reflections, and new research on the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, and the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. Critical dialogue has continued on the roles of men and women in peacekeeping and gaps remain in our collective understanding of how gender influences peacekeeping practice. The Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and Preventing the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers, now endorsed by over 100 countries, raises particular attention to the intersections of gender and child protection practice and policy. Principle 11, Contributions of Women, aims “to recognize the essential contribution of women to peacekeeping operational effectiveness, and the distinct and critical roles of both men and women in the protection of children and the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers.” Thus, for this 5th volume of Allons-y, we called on the international community to consider the interconnections between the Women, Peace and Security and Children, Peace and Security agendas to explore how gender influences the prevention of the recruitment and use of children in violence. The contributors are researchers and practitioners with extensive experience working in the fields of child protection, security sector reform, and feminist scholarship. Together, the contributions in this volume demonstrate the complexities of the humanitarian, development and security nexus, and the importance of understanding the complexities of gender within peace and security. In the opening preface, Clare Hutchinson, the NATO Secretary-General‘s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, reflects on the evolution of formal mechanisms designed to address the gendered impacts of conflict and the importance of enhancing women‘s meaningful engagement in peace and security. Nidhi Kapur and Hannah Thompson argue that the complexities of gender, beyond a binary perspective, need to be considered in child protection, not least in the context of fragile and conflict environments if peace is to be sustained. Vanessa Brown argues for reforms to military training that prioritize the protection of children affected by conflict and considers an intersectional, gendered analysis as essential to effective military operations. Dustin Johnson analyzes Vancouver Principle 11 – Contribution of Women – in relation to the emerging complexities of a gender transformative approach to child protection. The Vancouver Principles are an important mechanism to prioritize children within peace and security. Recognizing that conflict and conflict prevention are gendered social issues that require a commitment to critical dialogue, reflective practice, and evolving protection frameworks, are essential to a comprehensive approach to protecting children. The contributions in this volume particularly demonstrate the importance of applying theory to practice, and illustrate the value of using critical and feminist approaches in scholarship to tackling the complexities of gender, peacekeeping, and, child recruitment. We hope this 5th volume of Allons-y serves to challenge understandings and practices in order to improve child protection and the prevention of the recruitment and use of children as soldiers. [1] Graça Machel, “Impact of Armed Conflict on Children” (New York: United Nations, 1996), 59, https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/51/306.
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Preface: Vancouver and Beyond: Reflection and Revision on Women, Peace and Security
(Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, 2021) Clare Hutchinson
Clare Hutchinson is the NATO Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security On 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. For the first time in the history of the United Nations, women's concerns in relation to peace and security were formally discussed and acknowledged within the Security Council. Resolution 1325 recognises the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and stresses the need for full participation of women as active agents in peace and security. Building on the earlier UN Security Council resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict and Protection of Civilians, UNSCR 1325 was revolutionary, bringing to global attention the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls. UNSCR 1325 is a political and operational tool that has changed the conceptualisation of security and reframed the issue of women‘s rights within this space. Its 3 pillars of prevention, protection and participation remain the bedrock of WPS and, as such, demand that all actors recognize the different impact of armed conflict on women and girls is something for which the global community can find concrete remedies with and for women. As the UN WPS resolutions have evolved[1] and grown in stature and number, so has the recognition that so-called ‘marginal‘ actors such as women are no longer on the periphery. The Women, Peace and Security agenda collectively recognises that women are not only victims in conflict; often subject to heinous brutality and marginalized politically and economically, but they also make up to 30% of combatants in many conflicts and are sometimes actively engaged in terrorist organisations. The role of women in conflict, like that of men, is complex and layered and a gender lens needs to be applied to the entire cycle of conflict without preconceptions. In November 2017, Canada launched ‘The Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers‘. The ‘Principles‘ are a set of 17 political commitments focused on child protection in peacekeeping, but also specifically recognise the contribution of women to peacekeeping and the critical roles women can play in the protection of children. Over the last few years the attention to the lack of women in peace operations has become central. Discussions, initiatives and activities have increased in volume in their focus on gender parity and increasing the number of women, for both uniformed and civilian peacekeepers. For international organisations, including NATO, this has propelled a call for increased attention to the recruitment and retention of women in national forces, as a basis of operational effectiveness. The UN 2028 target for women serving in military contingents is 15%. Currently, NATO is ahead of the global average, with women making up 12% of NATO forces. However, more needs to be done. NATO‘s strategy has been to encourage our nations to dismantle barriers standing in the way of the full participation of women in the Alliance and national forces. We will continue to push and encourage the deployment of women, not because they are women to match targets, but because they have a right to contribute to the service of their nation and NATO. We should, however, be cautious about resting the efficacy of the agenda on parity alone. While greater diversity and a broadened skillset can be linked to better decision”making, planning and results - numbers are not enough. It is only in balancing the issues of parity and participation, that equality can be efficiently and effectively actioned. The Vancouver Principles highlight the ‘distinct and critical roles of both men and women in the protection of children and the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers‘[2]. Yet, we do need to be cautious about making assumptions women are innately suited to protection of children tasks – assumptions that are both inaccurate and dangerously essentialist. Where attention needs to be placed is in the gendering of responses to child protection. To what extent can gender perspectives enhance the political framework on children and armed conflict and the operational response to prevention and protection? Vancouver Principle 11 provides an important political foundation from which to move forward. As we forge a path towards the next twenty years, we must all continue to do our part, to strengthen both parity and participation, to secure a lasting peace for all. [1] There are currently ten United Nations Security Council resolutions on WPS, UNSCRS 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888(2009) 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019), 2493 (2019) [2] The Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers 2017
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Implementation Guidance for the Vancouver Principles: Chapter 11 – Contribution of Women
(Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, 2019) Government of Canada. Department of National Defence
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Beyond the Binary: Why Gender Matters in the Recruitment and Use of Children
(Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, 2021) Nidhi Kapur; Hannah Thompson
Gender matters in conflict. Socio-cultural norms, attitudes and expectations related to gender dictate the causes, course and consequences of child soldiering. Despite international commitments, the recruitment and use of children in armed forces and groups persists. This paper summarizes existing quantitative data from the United Nations Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, in light of complementary qualitative analysis from other sources, to highlight the ways in which gender norms can (a) drive recruitment, (b) determine roles and responsibilities, and (c) influence outcomes for children associated with armed forces or groups. The needs and experiences of girls and boys are explored, and where evidence allows, that of children of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Recommendations are made on potential actions that can further nuance the gender perspective proposed in the Vancouver Principles. Suggestions are made on how to ensure prevention and response interventions are (1) supported by consistently disaggregated data, (2) cognisant of the gender drivers behind recruitment, and (3) tailored to the distinct needs of children of diverse SOGIESC.
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Gender Considerations in Advancing the Vancouver Principles in Armed Forces
(Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, 2021) Vanessa Brown
Drawing from United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security and the Vancouver Principles, this paper highlights key factors to be addressed in military training and education to ensure that military members are adequately prepared to protect children affected by conflict and to enhance military capabilities to participate in the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Informed by feminist theories and analysis, this paper argues that military professionals are better prepared for the protection of children when they are given the opportunity to explore gender concepts in relation to their own socialization to the military and if they are provided with the right theories and tools to understand and respond to gender and intersectional dynamics of children and armed conflict. The paper suggests that while content that illuminates gender constructs and their relation to the security of children is crucially important, determining the right pedagogic approaches that support the effective training and education of military professionals is equally vital.
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A Critical Feminist Approach to Implementing Vancouver Principle 11
(Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, 2021) Dustin Johnson
In this paper I aim to provide a critical analysis of how Vancouver Principle (VP) 11 on the Contribution of Women to preventing the recruitment and use of child soldiers addresses gender and women‘s involvement in peacekeeping. Critical feminist research on gender and war, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, and international relations has examined and critiqued the important ways in which gender underlies, informs, and helps give meaning to matters of international peace and security. I draw on this diverse literature to discuss how VP 11 approaches gender and peacekeeping in a way that is at times problematic and at others nuanced and progressive, and provide concrete recommendations for how critical feminist insights can improve the implementation of the Vancouver Principles. The importance of understanding gender dynamics for peacekeeping in general, and for preventing the recruitment and use of children as soldiers in particular, necessitates more nuanced approaches to gender analysis and women‘s participation. The implementation of VP 11 can support both of these areas.
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Gender Mainstreaming in UN Peace Operations and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers
(Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, 2021) Anna Naa Adochoo Mensah
20 years after the adoption of the landmark Resolution 1325, it is important to assess the implementation of gender mainstreaming in UN peacekeeping operations and its impact on the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers. How has Resolution 1325 influenced the role of men and women in the fight against recruitment and use of child soldiers? What are the challenges and the way forward? This paper will examine the effect of gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations on the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

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